Page 16 - AfrOil Week 38

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

The minister further stated that he expected the Methanol Production Co. The remaining equity
modular refinery to benefit the Equatoguinean in the plant is split between Noble Energy (US),
economy. The plant will reduce the country’s with 45%, and Equatorial Guinea’s state-owned
dependence on imported fuel, as it will produce natural gas company Sociedad Nacional de Gas
gasoline, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel and naphtha de GE (Sonagas), with 10%.
for sale on the domestic market, he stated. Obiang Lima noted earlier this year that the
refinery project fell within the framework of the
Background Equatoguinean government’s Year of Invest-
According to previous reports, the refinery is ment 2020 initiative. The programme also
slated to be built on the site of a methanol plant includes plans to seek funding for methanol-re-
owned by Atlantic Methanol Production Co. lated projects and the construction of storage
Last December, MMH issued orders for the facilities on the country’s continental territory,
dismantling of the facility in preparation for its he said.
conversion into a modular refinery. When finished, the refinery will be part of the
The following month, it struck an agreement Punta Europa oil and gas complex near Malabo,
with Marathon on a study of the project and a the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The complex
separate study of methanol-based gasoline and also includes a gas liquefaction plant that turns
its derivatives. out LNG, gas-processing facilities and a gas-
Marathon owns a 45% stake in Atlantic fired thermal power plant (TPP). ™

Cabinda refinery site cleared of mines

ANGOLA THE Cabinda oil refinery in Angola has secured that can only cover around 20% of national fuel
a certificate stating the area is mine-free, oper- demand. Its fuel imports amounted to 2.97mn
ator Sonangol has said, paving the way for con- tonnes last year.
struction to begin. The government has plans for two more
The 1.3-km site some 30 km from Cabinda refineries on its coast at Soyo and Lobito. The
city was cleared of landmines in an operation Lobito refinery is the largest of the planned
involving the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) plants with a capacity of 200,000 bpd. But it has
and the National Demining Institute (INAD). suffered years of delays because of high costs and
Angola is one of the most heavily mined coun- questions about its feasibility.
tries in the world, as a result of its 27-year civil A tender was held earlier this year for the
war that ran until 2002. 100,000 bpd Soyo oil refinery and a winner was
The $500mn Cabinda project is a joint ven- due to be revealed in March, but the announce-
ture between Sonangol and London-based ment was delayed because of the coronavirus
investment firm Gemcorp, which won a tender (COVID-19) pandemic. Of the 31 interested
to help build the plant earlier this year. The refin- companies, 15 filed bids and nine of those offers
ery will process 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of were deemed valid. They are competing for
oil by the end of 2021 under its first stage of a contract to construct the plant by 2024 on a
development. build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.
Gemcorp said in early June that it would take Angola has also hired Kinetics Technology,
a final investment decision (FID) on the project a subsidiary of Italy’s Maire Tecnimont, as an
by the end of that month, and begin construc- engineering, procurement and construction
tion in August. But neither of those milestones (EPC) contractor to refurbish the Luanda refin-
have been reached, and the reason for the delay ery. Under a $200mn contract, Kinetics is slated
has not been disclosed. to install a naphtha hydrotreater and a catalytic
Under its second phase, output at the reformer. These additions will quadruple its gas-
Cabinda refinery is due to reach 60,000 bpd. oline output to 400,000 tonnes per year (tpy). ™
The plant will also feature a reformer that can
convert straight-run naphtha into gasoline. Its
third phase will see the construction of a hydro-
carbon treater to process heavy fuel into gas oil
by the end of 2023.
Sonangol awarded a contract to Hong Kong-
based consortium United Shine last year to build
the Cabinda refinery, but it terminated the deal
in December, citing the group’s failure to prove
it had the financial capability to see the project
through. It then selected Gemcorp in January.
Angola currently only has one working refin-
ery – a 65,000 bpd plant in its capital Luanda Sonangol and Gemcorp will build the plant (Photo: File)

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 38 23•September•2020